In July 2009, the Centre for Community Informatics and Development (IT for Change), in partnership with Mahila Samakhya Karnataka, UNICEF and Sarva Shikshana Abhiyan (Karnataka) launched the Kishori Chitrapata project. The project explores the innovative use of ICTs, in particular videos and photos, to address the learning needs of out-of-school adolescent girls through empowering constructivist learning processes. This presentation goes through the goals and methodology of the project, as well as the impacts and the lessons learnt.
Photo Exhibition: empowering adolescent girls in rural villages
A two day photo exhibition was organised in the villages Hosavaranchi (on Jun 7-8) and Attiguppe (May 31-Jun 1), in Mysore district, to showcase to the community the learning of adolescent girls who participate in the 'Kishori Chitrapata' (Images by Adolescent Girls) Project, a collaborative intervention of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan (SSA), 'Mahila Samakhya' (Women of Equal Value) Karnataka (a women's empowerment intervention of the Government of India), UNICEF and IT for Change. The project aims to contribute to girls' empowerment through Information and Communication Technologies like videos, audio recorders, digital camera and computers.
The event was attended by community leaders and organised by 'sangha' women who manage the 'Namma Mahiti Kendra' (Our Information Centres), also established by IT for Change in partnership with Mahila Samakhya. Sangha women are the support structure for these adolescent girls to facilitate their learning.
Kaveri, Manjula, Reetha are some of the 15-20 year old girls from rural areas who had to drop out of school to go for sheep grazing, to marry or to take care of the household, among other reasons. Their mobility was restricted to a couple of streets in the village due to their condition as girls and their belonging to a certain caste. Over the course of learning photography through digital camera, they shot pictures in other places, including agriculture fields and upper caste streets and homes. With the involvement and the support of the community, these girls started a process of re-visiting their own place as well as their role to show their realities through photos and videos.
Kishori Chitrapata - Evaluation Report
This report provides the review of the Kishori Chitrapata (KC) project and the evaluation of its potential for replication. This report starts with describing the initial situation and the specific issue of adolescent girls in India, with regard to education. Then, the process under which KC has been conceived, designed, and implemented is delineated, along with its theoretical framework and its main instrument. Next, challenges encountered at the planning and implementing stages are covered, including how some challenges have been resolved and how some challenges still remain unresolved and affect KC. Then, progress and achievements that KC has made are described. Next, the resources that KC has utilised and the way to promote sustainability of KC are mentioned. Then, good practices that have led to the success of KC are explained in a detailed way, and the replication of KC is recommended, in regard to why and how it should be replicated.
